I'm really excited to tell you how my week went. It had plenty of ups
and downs, but in the end, the Lord was able to lift me higher than I
could ever imagine. It's so great to have experiences like this on
your mission because it does show that God does hear your prayers and
loves you, no matter where you are at.
On Tuesday, we went tracting in our apartment complex after a few
appointments cancelled on us. We found no luck for about a half hour,
then on the last house we knocked on there was this 19 year old guy
named Noel who answered the door. He told us we could stop by on
Sunday to talk to him. Now, when future appointments are made, I hold
on to them, I just keep having faith we are going to meet with these
people. Many times they cancel, but I keep holding on, especially if
nothing else comes from the day. For the rest of the day, appointments
fell through and no one wanted to talk to us. Julianna, our
progressing investigator, called us out of the blue and told us she
was not interested and did not want to visit anymore. That was
probably the toughest part of the day for both of us because we really
cared about her and thought she was doing so well. Even with all those
hardships, I still kept in mind that young man we visited in the
morning which we will get back to.
Wednesday, we had so much rain and fog it was unbelievable! I honestly
felt a little uneasy driving through because the weather was so bad.
However, we pressed on, we talked to a good number of people and set
another appointment for this week.
We had a great learning experience this past Thursday. We are teaching
this older couple who have a baptismal date this month, and we asked
them how they felt about what we were teaching. They were being taught
even before I came to Kutztown, but they had a few issues regarding
Joseph Smith and baptism. Elder Maughan and I felt the spirit so
strong knowing we need to address their needs better as well as to
push their date. But we set all these great plans and ways we can help
them out this week which we are really excited about.
On Friday, we had a great time teaching a recent convert named Sarah.
She goes to Kutztown University so we teach her in her dorm. It's been
tough for her because she has been sick this past month but I saw her
at church for the first time which was so great! It was pretty funny
because she has a roommate we met who plays trumpet and was in the
college marching band. So it was pretty cool to relate to her and
hopefully talk to her about the gospel a little bit. We also had
dinner with this older couple named the Opparasono's. He is a
counselor in Bishopric and she is the Relief Society President and
they have been in the church for 10 years! It just shows the Lord
qualifies who He calls. It was great to talk to them about their
testimonies and how they knew the church was true. It was a delicious
dinner as well. We had pizza and they got it at a New York style shop
because they are both from Brooklyn. They are great!
Saturday had a lot of readjustments to our plans. We were going to do
service for this man who lives in Reading, but has a storage unit in
Kutztown. We were going to be there for about two to two and a half
hours helping him move his stuff. However, he cancelled at the last
minute, so our backup plan was to go to a city in our area where it's
just farmland and mountains. So we travelled to New Tripoli and it was
a blessing to go up there. We met a less active family named the
Lawley's (parents, 16 year old son, 14 year old girl, 7 year old
girl). They hadn't had missionaries over to their house in 6 years! We
had dinner and gave the mom and their daughter, McKayla, blessings
because they have been struggling with health problems. It was a great
visit. They even told us they would be at church the next day. Elder
Maughan has never seen them at church the 4 and a half months he has
been in Kutztown. So we were excited to hopefully see them at church.
Later that night we saw Sister Sherman and her daughter, Katie. We
discussed meeting with the bishop to get temple recommends to get
ready to go to the Philadelphia temple. They said they really wanted
to and that they would, which we got really excited about.
Sunday, however, had to be the best day of the whole transfer. Ann and
Don were at church the first time I was here. The Lawley's were at
church for the first time since both of us have been here. Sister
Sherman and Katie came to church and Sister Sherman bore her testimony
for the first time in 9 years. A part member family named the Monroes
came to church and the husband, who is a member, bore his testimony
for the first time since he joined the church at 16. We received two
referrals, one from a member, and one fro
is where my mtc companion Elder Maynard is serving! We had a great
three minute phone call and the referral the Elders sent us was a part
member family, who we set an appointment for this Wednesday! We also
taught Noel, who we met Tuesday and we taught him the restoration. I
was able to invite him to be baptized and he said yes! It was all the
Lord. There's no other way. I fasted so hard to have some sort of turn
around with all the trails we have been facing these past few weeks.
This was His answer. We are really excited for this coming week since
this is the last week of the transfer. It just shows if you sincerely
ask the Lord for help and you are willing to do His will, He will give
you aid. That is a principle I have seen over and over on my mission.
It's incredible. It is my hope and prayer all of you receive the
answers to your prayers. I know you will if you act sincerely to the
answer the Lord gives you. I hope you all have a great week! We are
planning on getting a little snow this week, hopefully not as much as
we did the first time!
Elder Cortes
Kutztown, PA
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